A few days ago, while listening to Dusty Springfield’s 1979 album Living Without Your Love on my tablet, my preferences were somehow ignored and songs I normally de-select were played. That included “Closet Man,” a sultry cover of a 1976 Jaye P. Morgan song that would be an interesting enough curiosity on its own but gains an added layer or two of complexity for obvious reasons as sung by Springfield. Having revisited it for the first time in years, I won’t keep it out of rotation from now on.

Written by David Foster, Donnie Gerrard and Eric Mercury, this four-minute ode to “[coming] out into the light” includes lyrics such as “Your love is soft and nights turn into tears/Your tattoos and your muscles disappear/And the ring that I once gave you, now you’re wearin’ in your ear/But your secret’s absolutely safe, my dear.” My personal favorite? “There’s nothing new at all under the sun/You’ve got company, you’re not the only one/Why, it’s older than religion and, quite honestly, more fun.” Who are we to argue? She knows of what she sings.

Note: This was written before I learned of the death of Marilyn Bergman, so the theme to Maude and the soundtrack to Yentl (which is watched annually around these parts) will also be played today, among other songs, which is similar to flying a flag at half-staff.